Chestnut Week 34

Might be one of my
last pregnant pictures
with Chestnut!

This week started out with an amazing piece of news: I don't have to be on campus at all this summer quarter!  I was supposed to have a 1-credit course that would require commuting to campus for one hour, one day each week.  This obviously was not ideal.  The faculty decided to move this course to the Fall quarter (where I needed an extra credit anyway).  So this means that once I complete my Spring quarter on June 4th, I will not have to be on campus again until September 27th!  Woohoo!!

We've been having a train of family come through our house this past week.  It started off with dropping off my sister GT at the airport for her 40th birthday cruise.  Then it was my oldest sister Gia-Mien's family that came up to visit for the weekend.  We went shopping at Ikea with the kids and Chi Mien helped me put together a curtain (with blackout lining) in Camille's room...from scratch!  She is amazingly talented. 

Shopping at Ikea with cousin Donovan

After Chi Mien's family left, Chin's mom came to help us with Camille.  I am SO thankful for her being here this week.  With her staying with us, I can go to class instead of having to watch streamed lectures online (which I am rarely ever motivated to do), she keeps the house neat and clean, Camille has someone else to "play" with, and Chin & I can take it easy in the evening times, too.  Thanks, Mom!

This week is also "Treat Yo'self Week" in Bao-world!  I had a manicure with my buddy Emily, went out for a late night snack at Jack-in-the-Box with Chin, had a counseling session sans toddler today, and to top it all off, a haircut tomorrow at Salon 7 in Bellevue!

My first pedicure ever!

Thanks for sharing your gift certificate, EML!

Technically, this is what's going on this week:

• Chestnut is the weight of a cantaloupe - ~17.72 inches and 4.73 pounds.
• Baby now has an excellent chance of survival outside the womb.
• Fat accumulations plumps up the arms and legs this week.
• Eyes opened when awake and closed when sleeping.
• The fingernails are now completely formed.
• Baby may have already turned to a head down position in preparation for birth (yes he is!).
• The skull bones are still pretty flexible and not completely joined to help to ease exit out of the narrow birth canal. 
• The baby's skin is also becoming less wrinkled.
• Thanks to antibodies crossing the placenta the baby is developing immunities to mild infections. 

Physical:

• Weight: 147 lb (+34)
• Belly circumference: 41 in (+12.5) ... hmm ... I shrunk!
• Dilation: 1-2 cm
• Cervix: Soft, but not too squishy; length is "decent"
• Station: -1
• Fundal height: 31 (he's definitely dropped his little head down there!)
• Estimated weight of baby: 5.5 pounds
• Midwife's prediction (Judy Lowe): 2 - 2.5 weeks until Marcus is born.  She was spot on with Camille!
• Recommendation: Take it reeeeeally easy for the next couple of weeks.  Lay on couch and do nothing, basically.  Judy said to even limit my walking.  Yikes!
• I have a contraction every time I get out of bed or get up from a chair.  I also get contractions walking to the bus stop if I am walking at a slightly brisk pace.  So I have to walk a little gingerly to make sure that I don't contract too much.
• Cankles!  They have returned with the warm weather and being on my feet a lot this weekend.  Definitely not as bad as they were with Camile, but they're there.  Poofy! 
• Yesterday was a long day: left home at 7:50 and didn't get back home 'til about 6:50. It was a long day at school with a 30-minute lunch break.  Good thing it was the last day of classes (I have an in-class final on Monday)! And I'm not sure whether it was because it was a long & tiring day, but I just had no appetite yesterday.  On top of the fatigue and loss of appetite, I also felt nauseous.  It felt like 1st trimester all over again.  My favorite of all trimesters.  NOT!

Spiritual & emotional:

• I'm generally feeling much better this week on the spiritual & emotional front.  I think having Chin's mom here takes off a lot of stress (physically and emotionally) which allows me to have a little more time for self care.  I should be better at getting to bed earlier, though.  I am so glad to almost be done with this quarter.  Just 3 more exams to go!
• I am surprising my sister Gia-Mien for her 45th birthday with a makeover of her sewing room.  I am hoping to drive down to Portland next Thursday to work on it that Friday.  Chin's mom will be going down with Camille and me (which I am so thankful for!).  Hopefully I will not go into labor before or during my trip.  I really want to do this for my sister and I've been anticipating this trip for a long time.
• Pinterest is slowly ruining my life with every well-lit, colorful picture of perfection...and I'm enjoying every guilty moment of it!
• I don't feel ready for Marcus to arrive.  There is so much more I want to do.  I want to nest some more, darn it!!  I kind of wish I had a capable assistant to help me execute all these Pinteresty ideas I have stocked up in my mind.  Any volunteers?! ;)

Click here to see the comparison to my pregnancy with Camille (MacNut) at the same gestational age.